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looking ahead to the future, it is always important to take a look
back at the past. The SteelHawks organization began life in 2001 as
the Rural Ridge Fightin' Falcons, simply some kids playing hockey
in a local park. In that first "training camp," the original
core of players grew into a team. Managers Dan Domski, Mike O'Donnell,
and Brad Stevens led a relatively young core of players that would
comprise the team during its first seasons. The team first took to
the asphalt on December 22, 2001 to face the earliest rival, the Heathergate
Phantoms. Though the team lost that game, a foundation was built.
The team was the charter member of the Allegheny Roller Hockey League,
a league that would never reach its full potential. The league had
several problems, and when games stopped being played at about mid
season, the team was declared champion as it was in first place at
that point. The Falcons looked to come back strong in a new ARHL for
the 2003 season, but it was not to be. In order to save a league that
was falling fast, the original managers sacrificed the team for the
good of the league and split the Falcons into the Indianola Grizzlies,
the Heathergate Red Storm, and the O'Hara Predators. The league was
a success that year and the Grizzlies captured the championship after
an exciting playoff series with the Red Storm. In the fall of 2003,
arguments among the teams began to rip allegiances apart and eventually
would lead to the downfall of that league. The Falcons reformed in
October as the O'Hara Falcons. This revival only lasted a few months,
however, as all managers made one last ditch effort to save the league.
In April 2004, the ARHL was all but gone, and all that was left was
the renamed Fox Chapel Falcons. Falcon management which included Dan
Domski, Al Stephen, and Brad Stevens, worked in an underground effort
to construct a new league based mainly in Allegheny County of Pennsylvania.
The North Pittsburgh Hockey League began to take on new members, and
more importantly, new competition for the FC Falcons. The NPHL's first
tournament took place in November of that year, and something unheard
of happened. A team from Maryland, the McHenry Massive, entered into
the event, marking the first out of state competition for the organization.
That team would be instrumental in leading to the current era of the
team. By February of 2005, the Massive and then FC Falcons squared
off indoors at Romp 'N Roll in Glenshaw, PA, marking the first time
that the team played indoors. By May 2005, the FC Falcons became the
Pittsburgh SteelHawks to reflect the team's move to a more regional
level of competition. In May, the team played its first games in a
tournament at its new home rink, Bladerunners in Harmarville. Though
the team did not fare well, it had set the stage for better competition
and more notoriety in the region. In that tournament, the team faced
the Lancaster Vipers and Shenandoah Valley Eagles, both having several
pro inline hockey players dotting the rosters. After a break in the
summer of 2005, the team was ready to get back at it in November 2005.
In November, the core of the current roster came together, and played
in the first official Mid Atlantic Roller Hockey Association tournament
on December 29, 2006. The team took its first road trip in February
2006 to Cumberland, MD. The North Pittsburgh Hockey League was able
to finally take off in the summer of 2006 and with constant improvement
of players and team chemistry, the Pittsburgh SteelHawks took a one
loss record into the championship series and were able to win the
first official championship in team history. The 2007 team showed
flashes of brilliance of 2006, but could not compete for a title in
the talented NPHL which featured many pro players for '07. The 2007
squad finished 1-7, missing the playoffs. 2008, however, looks promising,
as the team rebuilds through tryouts and looks to become a force in
the improving NPHL. |
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